Candidates Pull Petitions in Suburban Mayoral Races

By Bill Dries

Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald and Germantown Alderman Mike Palazzolo are on the cusp of entering the mayoral races in their respective communities.

Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald has pulled his qualifying petition to seek a fourth term as mayor on the Nov. 4 ballot.

McDonald pulled his qualifying petition Tuesday, May 27, to seek a fourth term as mayor on the Nov. 4 ballot and Palazzolo pulled his petition for Germantown mayor on May 23, the first day of the filing period for candidates in the Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett and Millington suburban elections.

On the ballot are races for aldermen and even-numbered positions on the suburban school boards. Germantown and Bartlett are the only two of the four with mayoral races on the ballot this year.

The 10 contenders who had pulled petitions through Tuesday, according to the Shelby County Election Commission website, www.shelbyvote.com, were mostly incumbents seeking re-election.

Palazzolo is not seeking re-election and is already campaigning for mayor of Germantown with the announcement earlier this year by incumbent Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy that she would not run for a sixth term of office.

Meanwhile, former Shelby County Schools board member Mary Anne Gibson has a petition out for Germantown Alderman Position 2. Position 1 incumbent Greg Marcom is seeking re-election.

Collierville school board members Wanda F. Chism and Catherine W. Messerly have each pulled petitions to seek full four-year terms on the school board. They are currently serving one-time-only shorter terms with their election in 2013, in order to stagger the terms of school board members as required by Tennessee law.

That is also the case for Germantown school board incumbent Mark Dely who pulled his qualifying petition for re-election on opening day last week.

Even numbered positions on the seven-member Millington school board are also on the ballot this year.

The Arlington school board also will have staggered terms. But those elected to the even-numbered positions on the Arlington school board serve for longer one-time-only terms that put those positions on the ballots next in 2015 to align them with municipal elections.

Lakeland school board elections, like those for Lakeland town commissioners, involve voters choosing multiple times from a single list of candidates with the top vote getters winning the offices.

The top three vote getters in the Lakeland school board races got the longer terms. The seats held by those getting the bottom two of the top five vote totals are on the ballot in 2015.